Nerf Stew
by Bria Tharen
Summary: Takes place during ROTJ, right after Han/Leia/Luke/Lando escape Jabba's palace. Han/Leia Fluff.


Leia caught Han as he stumbled into the _Falcon_. She wondered how long it would take Han's eyesight to recover. On the one hand, she was relieved that he couldn't see her current state of dress, but on the other hand, she was kind of curious what he would think of her unusual wardrobe.

Han blindly stumbled into the Main Corridor. "Hey Chewie- can you find me that bottle of eye drops? I think we have one around here somewhere…"

Leia's heart sank. So much for him not being able to see her. At the same time, though, she was almost glad that he would be able to.

"Leia?"

Leia jumped at the sound of her name. "Yes?" She replied, a little too quickly.

"Could you help me? I might worsen my eyesight if I try to put these in myself, and Chewie isn't agile enough." He reached out to pat his friend's arm. "Sorry pal."

Leia nodded. Remembering he couldn't see her, she added quickly, "I mean, yes. Of course."

Chewie handed Leia the eyedrops, and she gently touched Han's cheek. "Lie back."

He complied, and she put a drop in each eye. Han blinked several times, before focusing his eyes on her and giving her a smile. "Thanks."

She smiled back, and braced herself for his reaction.

Han stood up, but tripped. Leia caught him, and then he noticed her attire.

"Whoa. I think I could get used to these new uniforms."

Leia blushed, and Han smiled. He had missed that. "Why are you wearing that? Is this like a 'welcome back' present or something?"

Leia smiled ruefully. "Yes, from Jabba."

Han seethed, but didn't show it. "Well, I guess I'll have to thank him for that, at least."

There was a moment from awkward silence, and Han said, "Well, I'll uh- I guess I'll go reclaim my rightful seat at the helm of the ol' girl. Lando has obviously gotten comfortable up there- a little too comfortable. With that, Han and Chewie were off.

Leia headed to the crew quarters, and changed into her rebel uniform. As she headed back to the cockpit, she heard Han and Lando arguing.

"Well, she was mine in the first place, before you stole her from me. I don't see why you can't-"

"Before I _stole_ her from you??? Lando, I won 'er fair and square."

"Hardly! I said, 'any ship in my lot.' The _Falcon_ was MY personal ship!"

"It doesn't matter if she was your right hand! I still won her fair and-

"-square. Yeah. We know, but after I saved you from Fett-"

"-then you turned around and handed me to Jabba on a silver platter!"

The pair was too busy squabbling to notice Leia enter the cockpit. They were even more oblivious of the asteroid field they were approaching. Chewie growled a warning, but it was too late.

A large chunk of rock slammed into the _Falcon, _knocking Leia off balance. She slammed into the back wall of the cockpit, and everything went black.

"Chewie! Set course 3-1-9! Get us out of here!"

Lando rolled her eyes. "Look what you are doing to my ship!"

"Your ship! I won her fair and"-

Chewie growled at Han to focus on the task at Han. Han grumbled, "Alright, alright. But this discussion is NOT over, Lando!"

As soon as the Falcon was out of danger, a thought occurred to Han. "Hey, where's Leia? I haven't seen her since she helped me put the eye drops in."

Chewie growled a negative. Han sighed. "Lando, take over. I'll go look for her."

Lando grinned smugly, and Han responded. "Don't push it. I am still not done with our conversation."

Han walked out into the corridor, to find Leia sprawled on the floor. "Chewie! C'mere!"

Chewie walked in, and made a soft noise of concern. "What should we do?" Han said, worried.

Chewie suggested taking her to the medbay as a first step. "Right, Han responded. He picked her up as gingerly as possible and carried her towards the medbay. He set her down just as carefully as he had picked her up. "Let me see if I can revive her."

Han gently dabbed Leia's face with a wet cloth. She groaned, and started to sit up. "What happened?"

Han frowned. "I don't know- I was hoping you would tell us. We hit an asteroid field"-

A look of recognition crossed Leia's face. "Oh right- I think I must've tripped into the wall."

"Any broken bones?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

Han sighed. "Well, at any rate, I think you should rest. It has been a long day."

Leia said, "Wait!" Han turned around. "I mean, uh, shouldn't you rest too?"

He smiled at her. "Sweetheart, I just came out of hibernation. I've had enough resting."

She swallowed. _Please don't leave me_, she thought. _I just got you back…_

Han kissed her forehead. "Don't worry- I'll be back soon. Just rest a bit, okay?"

She nodded, though she doubted she could. Han was right, though. Less than five minutes later, she was asleep.

As Han walked back to the cockpit, he found himself concerned about Leia. She was considerably thinner than the last time he had seen her. He hoped Luke had the good sense to make her eat something.

Lando stood up without a fight, surrendering the pilot's seat to Han. "Leia okay? Chewie said she was hurt."

"She's fine- a little bruised up, but I think she's alright. You can never tell with Leia, though. She'll tell you she's fine no matter what."

Lando looked at Han, with a concerned look on his face. "You know, Han- the whole time you were gone, Leia wasn't herself."

Han looked at him. "Whadda mean?"

Lando hesitated, and then said: "Well, for starters she didn't eat much. She didn't sleep well either. She would get up in the middle of the night and sit in your chair, just running her hands over it and staring out into space. After a while, I asked her if she wanted your bed. She just shook her head and said that she couldn't sleep anyway. A couple of nights I found her crying out in one of the holds. She fell asleep in the hold once, so I put her back in your bed. She didn't say anything the next morning, but she started sleeping there from then on." He shrugged. "I don't know how she could have been missing you while I was around, but…" He gave the smuggler a devilish grin.

Han ignored the last part of what Lando said. He felt awful, awful for insisting they go to Cloud City in the first place, awful for leaving her alone for so long, and awful that he had been too busy arguing with Lando to notice the asteroid field. He hoped he would never be separated from her again.

A few hours later, Han entered the medbay. Leia was awake. "Hey," he said softly.

"Hey yourself," she replied.

_Why did you do that to yourself? Why didn't you take better care of yourself while I was gone? Where was Luke in all of this? _He had a million questions, but he didn't want to tire her out further. "I made you some nerf stew."

She gave him a weak smile. "Thanks."

Han watched her as she ate. "Are you going to eat too?"

"Naw, I ate while you were asleep."

She nodded. After a few moments of silence, Han finally worked up the nerve to bring up her health. "Uh… Lando tells me you didn't eat much while I was gone."

Leia narrowed her eyes. "Did he? I'll rip him apart. Or better yet, I'll let Chewie do it."

Han had no doubt that she could do just as good a job as Chewie did, but didn't say so. "He also said that you weren't sleeping much."

"I changed my mind. I think I'd rather have the satisfaction of doing it myself."

"Stop changing the subject. Why not?"

"Why not what?"

"Why didn't you eat or sleep much?"

Her face softened. "I missed you."

He swallowed a lump in his throat. "I missed you too," he said, huskily. "And I don't ever want to be apart again."

She smiled. "Me either. I don't sleep well to begin with, and you being gone didn't help any."

Han grinned, and kissed her cheek. "Well, I was just wondering if you'd like to stay in my bed more often… with me in it."

She almost rolled her eyes, but reconsidered. "That doesn't sound too bad, actually. Are you sure you don't mind?"

He smiled. "Are you kidding, sweetheart? When have I been known to mind you?"

She smiled, and he pulled her closer to him. As their lips met, he realized he couldn't remember a single time he actually had minded her being around.


End file.
